Garage Days Re-Revisited(The $5.98 E.P. or The $9.98 CD) was released on August 21, 1987 through Elektra Records.

Recording and release history

The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited was the group's first recording to feature its new bassist Jason Newsted (credited as "Master J. Newkid" in the liner notes). It is also the band's first release following the death of original bassist Cliff Burton. The extended play consisted entirely of covers of late-'70s and early-'80s New Wave of British Heavy Metal bands and hardcore punk music rehearsed in Lars Ulrich's garage and later recorded in a new studio the band had constructed. The group included the dollar price in the title (which was printed on the cover) in an effort to ensure that fans were not over-charged for it, though some retailers did ultimately charge more than the $5.98 price referenced in the title. The official United States CD release of the extended play amended the title (and the price) to The $9.98 CD... due to the fact that the retail price of CD's was much higher than cassettes, while other countries (such as Australia) still displayed The $5.98 E.P. with a sticker stating that this was the title and not the price. Titles on some versions of The $9.98 CD... were written in white and some in orange.

Though The $5.98 E.P.: Garage Days Re-Revisited has been out of print for many years and is considered a collector's item, all five tracks were later included on the 1998 double-album Garage, Inc., along with a number of other covers Metallica had recorded throughout its career, as well as a collection of entirely new recordings. The cover of the CD also was used as a basis for the Garage, Inc. back cover, which showed the members in a similar pose circa 1998.

The song "The Wait" was omitted from the UK pressings of the album in order to conform to local music-industry rules regarding the length of EP's.